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Two of three reform-minded candidates sweep onto Denver's school board

By Yesenia Robles The Denver Post

Posted:
11/02/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT

Updated:
11/02/2011 10:55:13 AM MDT

Allegra "Happy" Haynes gets a big hug from her No. 1 supporter, nephew Joshua White, after winning an at-large seat on Denver Public Schools' Board of Education. She and supporters celebrated at Bogey's on the Park at City Park Golf Course.
(Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Reform-minded candidates swept into seats on the Denver Public Schools board in an election seen as a referendum on fast-acting district reforms underway for six years.

Though supportive of the track that the district and Superintendent Tom Boasberg are on, candidates say they hope to speed up the changes.

"We have to learn from what works and do more of that and stay focused on that," said southeast Denver candidate Anne Rowe, as she was leading the polls.

By the 10 p.m. vote tally, Allegra "Happy" Haynes had a big lead in the at-large race with 59 percent of the vote.

In District 1, in southeast Denver, Rowe, a small-business owner and parent of three DPS students, also had a decisive lead with 65.9 percent of the vote over Emily Sirota's 34.1 percent.

The race was much tighter in District 5, in northwest Denver, where early on Jennifer Draper Carson edged past incumbent Arturo Jimenez by 200 votes but by 10 p.m. was trailing by 73 votes, or less than 1 percent.

A win by Haynes and Rowe maintains the DPS board majority with members generally supportive of the district's reforms, independent of the race in northwest Denver.

This year's election could have meant a shift in the district's education policies, and that fear prompted large contributions and national attention.

One group of candidates — Rowe, Carson and Haynes — was endorsed as a group by Stand for Children, Democrats for Education Reform, and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

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The three were viewed as a group supportive of DPS reforms underway, including turnaround processes to close and reopen poor-performing schools and granting innovation status to others.

This year, the district has turned around many of the worst schools in far northeast Denver and has granted innovation status to more than 10 schools as a way to allow them more autonomy and freedom from some union rules.

Candidate Sirota and incumbent Jimenez — both supported by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association — are less readily supportive of some of the district reforms, though the two have tried to back away from the labels of reformers and anti-reformers.

"I don't believe I fall into one category or another," Sirota said. "I want to represent what folks want. I can't tell you how I will vote on any one thing or another until I listen to the community and look at the merits of each proposal."

Sirota was not available for comment after election results started coming in.

Jimenez said he believed special- interest money was the only reason his race was so close.

"We feel pretty confident a victory is imminent," Jimenez said. "It's a victory for neighborhood schools and for local control, not for outside special interests."

Many of the largest contributions for Rowe, Haynes and Carson came from the same donors, including former University of Denver chancellor Daniel Ritchie, who gave $26,000 to each of them. Strata Resources president Henry Gordon gave $25,000 to each, and University of Colorado president Bruce Benson gave each $10,000.

New members will be sworn in Nov. 17, at the conclusion of the regular board meeting.

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